Ryanair crew left to fend for themselves without food or drink, union says

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Ryanair jets prepare for takeoff from Lisbon Airport in Portugal in June 2018.(Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren, special to USA TODAY)

A Ryanair crew was left with nowhere to go and nearly slept on the floor of an airport office after a flight was canceled, according to a cabin crew union, The BBC and the Irish Times report.

In a photo shared by Facebook group Ryanair MUST Change Sunday, six people in Ryanair uniforms are seen laying on a floor.

The photo's caption reads: "This is Porto crew last night stranded on the floor of Malaga crew room. They were diverted due to the storm and the company left them there."

In a follow-up post to the page Monday, Portuguese airline union SNPVAC clarified what the photo represented.

In the statement, the union says 24 crew members (8 pilots and 16 cabin crew) from four flights were diverted to Malaga airport because of tropical storm Leslie.

"The 24 crew members were there since (1:30 a.m.) until 06:00 (local time) without access to food, drinks and even a place to sit down, as there were only 8 seats available for the 24 crew," the statement read, adding they had "no other choice" than to attempt to rest on the floor.

This is a Ryanair 737 crew based in Portugal, stranded in Malaga, Spain a couple of nights ago due to storms. They are sleeping on the floor of the Ryanair crew room. RYR is earning €1.25 billion this year but will not put stranded crews in a hotel for the night. @peterbellew ? pic.twitter.com/lILWZVqqGj

Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer Peter Bellew responded to the photo, which was also shared on Twitter.

"All hotels were completely booked out in Malaga. The storm created huge damage in Portugal. Later after this the crew moved to VIP lounge," he tweeted. "Apologies to the crew we could not find accommodation."

Unfortunately. All hotels were completely booked out in Malaga. The storm created huge damage in Portugal. Later after this the crew moved to VIP lounge. Apologies to the crew we could not find accommodation.

In statements to the news sites, Ryanair said the photo was "staged" and "no crew slept on the floor."

“Due to storms in Porto (13 Oct) a number of flights diverted to Malaga and as this was a Spanish national holiday, hotels were fully booked," the statement read. "The crew spent a short period of time in the crew room before being moved to a VIP lounge, and returned to Porto the next day (none of the crew operated flights).”

The statement did not address claims that the crew did not have access to food or drinks.

In a statement to USA TODAY Thursday, Ryanair said video footage showed the crew never actually slept on the floor and called the photo "fake news."

Two attendants of Europe's biggest low-cost airline Ryanair pet a camel in front of a Ryanair plane on March 29, 2011, at the airport in Bremen, Germany. The airline started flights that day from Bremen to a new destination in Morocco. CARMEN JASPERSEN, AFP/Getty Images